Amnesia victim has ties to Boulder

"Benjaman Kyleâ is named for the initials of the Burger King restaurant near Savannah, Ga., where he was found naked and badly beaten nearly five years ago.

He has few clues to the life he once led - where he lived, if he has any family.

He thinks he's about 60 years old. He thinks Benjaman is his real first name. He feels eerily comfortable in and around restaurants and wonders if he once worked in the industry.

Now his memories of an out-of-business Boulder burger joint and the vivid recollection of reading Restaurants & Institutions Magazine in the University of Colorado's Norlin Library have led the people who are helping him search for his identity to turn their attention here.

They think he could have lived in Boulder as early as the 1970s, and they're hoping someone in the area can shed light on the mystery of who he is.

Even finding a person who remembers sitting next to him in the CU library decades ago, seeing him in a restaurant or passing him on the street would help to narrow his search.

"Everybody has a context,â said Colleen Fitzpatrick, a forensic genealogist who has been helping Kyle since February. "Everyone knows people. It's just a matter of finding those people.â

'I feel he's blessed me'

At about 6 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2004, Burger King managers found Kyle - beaten and unconscious - lying near the Dumpsters behind their fast-food restaurant in Richmond Hill, Ga.

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Police who responded found no clothes or wallet to identify him.

Kyle survived his injuries after being taken to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. But, he said, he was moved around over the next four months because nobody wanted to deal with the financial burden of caring for an amnesia victim who had no money and no family.

"I was in and out of five hospitals and clinics in Savannah,â he said.

Fitzpatrick said Kyle had severe cataracts and - because the optical disease develops slowly over time - police think Kyle had been without medical attention for some time and may have been homeless.

Kyle said it's hard to explain how he felt when he came to. But he did say he was not like a newborn - the knowledge he needed to function was still there.

"It's hard to explain to people when I don't understand it myself,â he said.

Katherine Slater, a nurse who has been advocating for Kyle since 2007, said she met him when she was working night shifts at the J.C. Lewis Health Center, a clinic for the homeless and indigent. She said she noticed that Kyle was working long hours at the clinic for nothing more than room and board.

"He's the kind of guy who goes over and above the job,â she said.

Slater decided to take Kyle in and, since then, has helped him search for who he is.

But Kyle said it has been difficult waiting for clues to his identity. Since he doesn't know his real name or Social Security number, there are a lot of things he can't do, such as get a driver's license, open a bank account or do any kind of real work.

He said he's grateful to Slater and Fitzpatrick for taking an interest in him.

"I guess, in a way, I'm embarrassed, grateful for all their generosity,â he said. "I can never pay back what they've done for me.â

Slater said that, along the way, Kyle has been an inspiration to her, and she's determined to see the search through.

Slater said one of Kyle's most specific memories is of Norlin Library on the CU campus.

"He always raved the University of Colorado-Boulder has the most extensive collection of Restaurants & Institutions Magazine,â she said. "I'm certain he was in that library.â

Kyle said he remembers the library, "and I remember being in it.â

"I remember a lot about the Denver-Boulder area, but (the memories) seem to stop in the earlyÂ¤'80s,â he said.

Janet Freeman, a library technician in the William M. White Business Library, where the magazine collection is now kept, said the library received a subscription to R&I Magazine from 1981 to 1996.

Another lead is Kyle's extensive knowledge of the restaurant industry. Slater said he is able to take two similar machines and explain what they do and why someone would use one over the other. That has led his advocates to search schools with business or restaurant-management programs.

"I just find it interesting,â Kyle said. "I'm inclined to think that I worked in restaurants.â

Kyle also mentioned a restaurant that he remembers from Boulder. Round the Corner Restaurant had locations in the Boulder area including at the Crossroads Mall, on Table Mesa Drive and on University Hill. The chain closed its 13th Street location on the Hill in 1989, and the Table Mesa and Crossroads restaurants closed shortly thereafter.

Those helping Kyle have entered his genetic and fingerprint information into military and other databases. He even appeared on "Dr. Philâ last fall.

The DNA tests have resulted in a tenuous link to the last name Powell, though there is not enough information to confirm the match. Another lead in Indiana, stemming from more of Kyle's memories, also has brought no tangible results.

'I just want to move on with my life'

Jordan Grafman, a cognitive neuroscientist who is part of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said the most typical kind of amnesia is when people can't retain new memories. Alzheimer's disease, which is one such form of amnesia or dementia, affected an estimated 26.6 million people worldwide in 2006.

"Nothing's impossible,â he said. "Sometimes people are able to relearn some of their past.â

Kyle still hopes. And Fitzpatrick, the forensic genealogist, still believes that time will bring back some of Kyle's past.

"You can forget your name, but you can't really lose who you are,â she said.

Though Kyle said he wonders about his former life, he tries to look toward the future and concentrate on who he is now.

"Whatever happened in the past ... I don't have a time machine, I can't go back in time,â he said. "At this point, I'm looking forward. I just want to move on with my life.â

Archived comments

Dad?

Dr_Hal

7/5/2009 8:01:03 AM

"He feels eerily comfortable in and around restaurants..."

-----

You, and 75% of the people in this country, bub.

FreeThinker

7/5/2009 12:05:03 AM

Wow. What a story. Good luck.

wildflowerseed@hotmail.com

7/5/2009 12:06:57 AM

You know, I am so sick and tired of this..., um, where was I going with that?

super_boulder

7/5/2009 2:24:52 AM

Kyle and Slater-

I don't want this to come off the wrong way, but since Slater isn't from Boulder and Kyle doesn't remember it and there is some indication that Kyle may have been homeless for a while, you may need to be reminded about some things in Boulder.

Boulder is a city in which the homeless congregate. They like to sleep by Boulder Creek at night and hang out in the city's libraries by day. Perhaps Kyle was one of those people who hung out in the library reading? It may serve you to contact someone who worked in Boulder's homeless shelter or police officers who worked the Hill and Pearl Street Mall in the 1980's. There are also a few homeless around who have been in and out of Boulder since the 1970's-It may be of service to post Kyle's picture in the shelter to see if any of them remember him. Maybe go through booking photos of the time. If Kyle was homeless in Boulder, he may have been photographed for a public intoxication charge, etc. I hope this isn't the case and Kyle's past was different, but giving his health history, it may end up helping.

I hope you regain your memory.

wayward

7/5/2009 5:07:08 AM

Hi, Thanks for the suggestion. We have already sent his picture to the homeless shelters in Boulder, and I know that at least one has posted it on their bulletin board. Benjaman's health is excellent, indicating that if he had been homeless, it was not for an extensive period of time.

CFitzp

7/5/2009 7:44:16 AM

DR_HAl your dad is gone and he does NOT want to get back in touch with you. He reads your comments here and is very embarrassed that not pulling out caused such a large pile on the face of society. Speaking of large messes on faces...Hows your mom?

he_b_gb@yahoo.com

7/5/2009 8:23:17 AM

Good Luck.

siggy1123@hotmail.com

7/5/2009 8:58:45 AM

I would hope the Denver Post would also run this story. Ben seems like a great guy and I wish I could help in some way. Good Luck.

cindys1007@comcast.net

7/5/2009 10:07:52 AM

"They think he could have lived in Boulder as early as the 1970s.."

Well, duh.. no wonder he can't remember anything.

dontboulderizelongmont

7/5/2009 1:04:14 PM

Hey, that guy owes me money!

bobmobber@hotmail.com

7/5/2009 2:51:23 PM

"But Kyle said it has been difficult waiting for clues to his identity. Since he doesn't know his real name or Social Security number, there are a lot of things he can't do, such as get a driver's license, open a bank account or do any kind of real work."

This is not true, and it's pretty straightforward to get a new SSN issued to you in cases like this.

Sounds like he's just looking for an excuse to not work to me.

NukesInBoulder

7/5/2009 3:13:58 PM

Looks like one of the members of Peter, Paul and Mary.

zone913inc@aol.com

7/5/2009 3:32:44 PM

Great story! CFitzp, good luck with the search for information.

Clejac

7/5/2009 3:39:22 PM

Hi, It is not possible to get a new SSN if you don't have proof of identity. The Social Security Administration will not issue him a new SSN unless he can show that he does not already have one. if it were that easy, he would have applied for one a long time ago. Believe me, he would be so happy to be able to work. Colleen

CFitzp

7/5/2009 3:56:43 PM

"Believe me, he would be so happy to be able to work."- Colleen

Since when do you need a SSN to work in Colorado, just ask one of the 1000s of lawncare workers who decend on Boulder daily how they do it.

GabeMc

7/5/2009 4:10:03 PM

Georgia Congressman Kingston's office has been in exhaustive talks with the Social Security Administration in Washington and has had no luck in obtaining any SS number, temporary or permanent.

Benjaman3406

7/5/2009 5:13:07 PM

Thanks Colleen,

It's people that go out of there way to help another that makes a community.

Botanator

7/5/2009 7:03:01 PM

zone.. or Smothers Brothers cousin.

Sunfire

7/5/2009 7:10:21 PM

Wow, I hope someone does recognize him. Good luck!

allison@billingside.com

7/5/2009 8:56:38 PM

Wait! Isn't that guy Dan Quayle?

kbugg

7/5/2009 11:03:21 PM

I have a friend in Boulder with a memory problem similar to the "50 First Dates". A nicer guy you couldn't find and he luckily has a strong network of family support to keep him in an apartment and able to enjoy his world. It's a hugely frustrating thing for him though because he just can't in life as he used to do before his brain injury. I hope he finds his family and some resolution to this.

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